Abstract

The purpose of this study is to analyze empirically the impact of fiscal decentralization on the performance of local government in the health field. Indicators used in assessing the performance of local governments in the health sector in this research is the realization of budget funds in the areas of health, infant mortality and life expectancy. Researchers used the local government district in West Sumatra province as the sample in this study. Sampling technique using purposive sampling of the categories of local government that can be a sample that has data from 1997 to 2007. Data is secondary in analyzing the performance of local government health-related fields of fiscal decentralization. Hypothesis testing using SPSS program. The results showed that the share of health spending in APBD realization district / city after the implementation of decentralization of fiscal year 2001 increased compared to prior fiscal decentralization is applied. GDP is a negative statistical significant effect on infant mortality. While the variable portion of health spending, the number of medical personnel are not statistically significant impact on infant mortality. While the testing of hypotheses in analyzing the variables that affect life expectancy, only the GDP variable is significant statistical positive influence. While the variable portion of health spending, the number of medical personnel and the number of available beds in the hospital was not statistically significant effect on life expectancy. The results of this study provide an important contribution to the region in improving performance in the field of health by considering the factors that influence it. Empirical research in this field has not been done in Indonesia, so that subsequent researchers can use other indicators to evaluate government performance in the health field related to fiscal decentralization.